Google Maps On Mobile Gets Uber Integration

http://techcrunch.com/2014/05/06/google-maps-on-mobile-gets-uber-integration-and-more/

by viscanti • 12 years ago

121 62 12 years ago

ignostic• 12 years ago

I did not see that coming - does anyone know whether money changed hands here? It'll be interesting to see how Lyft and others respond.

mindotus• 12 years ago

Google Ventures is an investor.

maxmcd• 12 years ago

Yes, but as mentioned in the article: "Google always maintains its venture arm operates independently from the rest of the organization"

Are there other examples of something like this happening to a GV backed company?

Dorian-Marie2• 12 years ago

Knowing Google, it will be an Android API service where you can register your app, so here Uber is an example in the screenshot but other apps will be able to register too.

That would actually be amazing the see the different prices / times for each service like Uber / Lyft / Taxi / Bus / Metro / etc.

scep122• 12 years ago

It seems like they're on the cusp of offering something similar for Google Now voice actions based on the Android Wear preview SDK. As both a user and developer, it's a welcome addition.

jusben1369• 12 years ago

Great point. Google wants all the world's data so I'd say they'd be much more interested in using Uber to get all the other services to quickly follow suit than try and make this Uber specific and a lead gen tool for a while.

msoad• 12 years ago

I think this happened because Google Ventures invested $200M on Uber last year.

salimmadjd• 12 years ago

This is either a huge victory for Uber or a trojan horse by Google.

Google can use this strategy to train users to rely on google maps for Uber. If they see traction, they can roll out their own competing ride sharing service on top of google maps where they already have built traction and have users by using Uber.

awj• 12 years ago

Other than a decidedly not-Uber-like experience of throwing ads at a captive rider, I really don't see a reason that Google would be interested in that space.

rory096• 12 years ago

As it stands now I'd agree, but Uber's the first market that'll be overturned by self-driving cars.

rm999• 12 years ago

Google wishes it wasn't 95+% an ad company. It's a highly profitable space, but it leaves them vulnerable in the long term.

Google is entering into the delivery space (Google Shopping Express) and into self-driving cars, both which are similar to or complementary to Uber's business model.

rposborne• 12 years ago

Not so much there own "ride sharing" but their own automated car fleet. There already have been rumors of Google using the self driving car in this fashion. It would be simple to swap out Uber for a Google Car.

awwstn• 12 years ago

Google invested $258,000,000 in Uber [1]. Why would they have plans to roll out a competing ride sharing service?

[1] http://techcrunch.com/2013/08/22/google-ventures-puts-258m-i...

toomuchtodo2• 12 years ago

I'm curious. Why wouldn't google just buy Uber or replicate the technology?

I've done IT forever. I know the trap, "How hard can it be?" Google has location data on everyone with Android devices. They have location data used for traffic information. It wouldn't be a leap to use that data to determine hotspots and route drivers.

lost_name• 12 years ago

Although I don't think they'd want to compete directly with Uber... surely they'll want to do something with their self driving car technology some time in the future.

sarreph• 12 years ago

And, before long, the road will be jammed full of Gübers...

NicoJuicy2• 12 years ago

I wonder how it works in Brussels and in Germany, where UberPop has been forbidden.

And does it integrate Uber only (where only legit taxidrivers can participate) or does it also integrate UberPop (that has been illegal in Brussels and Germany). Cause according the website, UberPop is still available in Germany (https://www.uber.com/cities/berlin ) and in Brussels (https://www.uber.com/cities/brussels)...

Anyone knows what specificly is integrated?

jacalata2• 12 years ago

Uber is illegal in multiple US cities as well, but that hasn't stopped them operating anywhere that I've heard.

NicoJuicy2• 12 years ago

Uber or UberPop? From what i understand, those are 2 different things.

jamesgeck0• 12 years ago

The lane information they're adding to the UI is great, but I hope it's added to the navigator voice, too.

There haven't been many times when I've had to cross three lanes of traffic in a hurry because Google Maps waited until the last minute to tell me to turn right, but they tend to be memorable when they happen.

hershel2• 12 years ago

Currently the biggest challenge of UBER is regulatory - cities are fighting it tooth and nail. One way to exert strong political pressure is to offer a real breakthrough new service for the mass population(and not something like UBER which is an incremental innovation targeted for a small section of the population). This also fits with the breakthrough mentality shown by google's leaders.

Such service could work like UBER for public transit[1], basically enabling people to share rides with multiple other people while decreasing the costs significantly and maybe making such a service an viable alternative to private transportation. Such an offer would be hard for politicians to resist for long.

One key to enable such service at scale, is access to plenty of people and their real-time travel data, and having an ability to offer them an highly targeted ad + route + service. That sound perfect for google+UBER. Like a huge market they're positioned perfectly for.

[1]Previous HN thread: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7391885

kevando• 12 years ago

I've got to think this is a big play for their self driving cars.

1) The new map data moves to show how super advanced their capabilities measuring real time data so people build more trust.

2) Uber is also a likely bridge to the mass population accepting self driving cars. First we ditch our own cars for ubers (which are everywhere according to google maps), then when Google decides to swap out the human with AI, it won't be as a drastic jump from where we are now.

Kudos, Google.

dave5104• 12 years ago

I'd also point out--for your benefit if you don't know, or for anyone else that reads this--that Google is an investor in Uber.

hershel2• 12 years ago

Totally agree.

More so: let's think about speed of adoption. It takes much less time to replace a small fleet of public transportation vehicles than the huge private fleet we have today.

And from a business model perspective , if an automated car manufacturer wants to compete , he has to start building a public transportation service now. But cars manufacturers have wrong incentives and bad capabilities for such tasks.

So this practically guarantees Google will win a large share of the automated transportation market from the car companies.

Maybe it's time to invest in google ?

akavi• 12 years ago

Could this not have anti-trust implications?

This seems very analogous to Microsoft's tying of IE and Windows, considering Google's dominant position with regards to maps.

raldi• 12 years ago

Microsoft was declared a monopoly in large part because there were huge barriers to their users switching to another platform. They were totally locked in.

In the maps world, there's no such lock-in. It's trivial to switch from Google Maps to some other mapping service.

DigitalSea• 12 years ago

This is fantastic news for Uber. In my city Uber is only just starting to roll out properly, but when I recently visited San Francisco everyone in the tech space travels around using Uber, so I gave it a go and it was fantastic.

To those saying this is a move by Google to test the waters for a ride sharing service of their own, Google Ventures invested $258,000,000 into Uber, it would be cheaper for them to just have a large amount of equity in Uber like they probably already do or just by Uber out if it gains massive momentum.

You have to understand when you get to the size Google has it becomes more economical and cheaper for a company to just buy out any competing service or take a massive chunk of equity. Large companies rarely innovate, they purchase and absorb already established and researched companies & niches.

I can honestly see sometime in the future Google and Uber teaming up together to create driver-less Uber vehicles. Uber have already removed the payment on the spot step with credit card/Paypal integration, why not eliminate the driver as well?

JosephHatfield• 12 years ago

How is this helpful to the Google Maps user? If I'm looking for an Uber ride, I couldn't care less about opening Google Maps. I just open Uber and request a car.

philsnow• 12 years ago

you've presupposed the user wants an uber.

usually what the user wants is to no longer be where they are, but where they want to be, and they'd be equally alright with taking a bus or subway.

hu_me• 12 years ago

This is actually an interesting monetization experiment for google maps.

Google might create an ad type allowing all the different ride sharing companies to bid on this ad space. Should be able to attract pretty good cpm considering the user has already shown clear intent.

Google Maps On Mobile Gets Uber Integration

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